Thursday February 12, 2015 Vol. 2, No. 49
The Weekly Post
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‘Team Peoria County’ enjoys awards, plans for future By BILL KNIGHT
Peoria County Board chair Andrew Rand and County Administrator Lori Curtis Luther announced three awards the County recently earned, reflected on addressing fiscal challenges and laid out plans for the next year 1t Wednesday’s State of the County event at Coyote Creek in For The Weekly Post
Bartonville. First to the awards. The County’s IT Department and associates who worked to install Odyssey, the Civil and Criminal Justice System, earned a Public Sector Excellence Award from Tyler Technologies. The County-led Joint Information Center, an emergency communi-
Billtown OKs some repairs for school
cations hub for a five-county region, was recognized with a Bright Idea Award from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. And the County’s Heddington Oaks nursing home improved on its previous LEED Silver certification to achieve LEED Gold certification from the
U.S. Green Building Council. “[This] seals our commitment to continue providing exceptional nursing care to our senior citizens, a Peoria County tradition since 1848,” Rand said. “No other publically owned nursing home in the nation is LEED Gold certified.” Rand described the leadership structure of Peoria County govContinued on Page 10
LIBRARY EXPANSION
By BILL KNIGHT
WILLIAMSFIELD – Despite a recommendation by Superintendent Tim Farquer, approval by the Village Board, funding that bypasses the tax levy, and recognition by School Board members that building access isn’t secure, the Board on Monday rejected a plan to make the south entrance a secure entryway, opting instead to seek cheaper alternatives. Also, a proposed office consolidation and new STEM [Science-Technology-Engineering-Math] lab failed by a 3-4 vote. One of several reasons for hesitating on these projects was a concern about State support for schools, and the Board unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the issuance of
Area educators aren’t surprised by the state’s dropping the science exam for 4th, 7th and 11th graders this spring, but some are confused and even annoyed in the midst of questions and increasing national concern with standardized testing. “It seemed clear to me during field testing of PARCC [Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers] last spring, science was not a component of that process, so I am not terribly surprised by this decision,” said Janelle Meyers, counselor at Elmwood For The Weekly Post
ELMWOOD – An attempted fraud that law enforcement calls “an ongoing telephone scam” is increasing in west-central Illinois, and a local man phoned on Feb. 4 by a man claiming to be from Microsoft warns people that the scheme apparently targets older people and the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office told him they’re getting similar reports. “I got a phone call and my caller-ID said it was from ‘technical support,’ so I answered, and this guy said they’d detected a virus in my computer and needed my Internet information to get rid of it,” said Michael Shissler, 66. “He didn’t get it. I knew darned well it was hooey.” Shissler asked the caller to call back the next day, and he also called the Sheriff’s office. The unidentified caller called back the next day but inadvertently revealed himself, Shissler said. “He goofed up his scenario,” he said, laughing. “It was the same man but this time he said he was from ‘World Wide Electronics.’ I eventually hung up on him. The scam typically has callers claiming to be from some a major software company. They report the user’s computer to be running slow, sending error messages, needing an update or infected with a virus. The caller tries to convince the user to give them permission to run a program allowing the caller to gain remote access to their computer and solve computer problems for a fee. Law enforcement refers to such scams For The Weekly Post
Work is well underway on a $505,000 expansion of Brimfield Public Library, which includes an activity room built to hold 120 people. The project will also create study rooms and a sound-recording booth inside the existing library. Library director Patti Smith said construction is expected to be completed by June. Photo by Jeff Lampe.
State drops science assessment examination By BILL KNIGHT
Apparent phone scam targets computer users By BILL KNIGHT
For The Weekly Post
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Rand
C.U.S. D. 332. The tests, mandated federal law, address various topics, from energy and matter to astronomy and Earth science. But the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is worried the questions are outdated. “Didn’t those same decision-makers Meyers know this months ago?” asked John Asplund, Superintendent of Farmington C.U.S.D. 265. “Why make an announcement so close
to the date of testing?” Indeed, the test season starts in March, and Illinois is still negotiating with the U.S. Department of Education to get around the requirement to administer the science exams. Federal law demands science testing at least once each during grades 3 through 5, 6 through 9, and 10 through 12. States not in compliance could face sanctions and loss of federal dollars. Still, some states and individual districts are opting out, according to this week’s Time magazine, which reports a “seismic shift in public opinion across Continued on Page 8
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